MSU football: Maxwell not a captain – what it means

Mark Dantonio announced Michigan State’s captains Wednesday night via Twitter. By that time, Andrew Maxwell knew he wouldn’t be one – a year after the quarterback’s teammates voted him into the leadership position as a junior.

It’s entirely rare to see someone lose their captaincy after being named one as an underclassman. It should happen to MSU’s basketball team because Russell Byrd almost assuredly won’t be a second-time captain in basketball. And Thursday night, it happened to senior quarterback Maxwell as his fellow Spartans elected linebacker Max Bullough, cornerback Darqueze Dennard and offensive lineman Blake Treadwell as the 2013 season captains.

Dantonio was quick to spin it positively: Maxwell remains an important leader, got a number of votes from his teammates in the democratic process, will be part of the leadership council of 12, that the picks were more about what these other three had done rather than what Maxwell hadn’t done, that he’ll be one of the rotating fourth captains one week this year.

The fact is two quiet but productive players – Treadwell and Dennard – got the vote of confidence from their peers this year; Maxwell didn’t. Quarterbacks are almost always considered the leaders, unless they’re an inexperienced underclassman. Yet Maxwell stood out enough to his teammates a year ago to be elected captain without having started once and with having taken minimal meaningful snaps.

So does this mean mutiny on the H.M.S. Dantonio? Does it mean Maxwell is out of a job? Not necessarily.

Nothing is done within the Spartans’ program without intent – see Dantonio opting to choose the three guys who ended up as captain and not Maxwell to represent MSU at the Big Ten media days in Chicago last month. And yes, Maxwell attended that event as well last year.

What this appears to be is more of a smoke screen, similar to how Dantonio gushed on Monday about Damion Terry’s weekend scrimmage performance. That day, the coach painted the QB race as still being a four-man battle. By Thursday, Dantonio said he knows who he plans to start and seemed to be cooling again on Terry.

Talking so much and exclusively about Terry on Monday was meant to light a fire under the three QBs in the mix. Dantonio proceeded to talk about seeing “flashes” from Connor Cook and Tyler O’Connor in practice, which means they also lack the consistency he wants from the position.

Which leaves Maxwell, who fits the don’t-make-mistakes footprint that Dantonio also brought up when talking Monday about what he needed to see from Terry to prevent a redshirt. Ball security always reigns supreme in Dantonio’s mind, and that’s what he hopes having a veteran senior with a full season of game experience means.

Treadwell said Maxwell handled the news in his typically even-keeled manner. Exactly what Dantonio expects from his QB.

“He’s still a leader. He’s still gonna lead this offense,” Treadwell said. “He’s the quarterback – it starts in the huddle from his words, and we put it into action.”

18 Responses to MSU football: Maxwell not a captain – what it means

Good Stuff Chris. Maxwell was not voted as a captain because he was not voted as captain. Nothing more or nothing less can and should be read into it. No message to be sent to coaches or anyone else. As you and I discussed, it’s likely he starts a few games and possibly loses out to 2 and 3 if he cannot move the ball. If 3 had the same general skill set as 4 then hopefully 4 will redshirt. If Terry gets a chance to shine in games 1-3 before the burning takes place, and does shine, then this could get extremely interesting.

All this said, if the green and white game were tomorrow, and QB were the position to be taken first, I would love to be a spot on the wall to see who the seniors would be picking first.

Looked up Catfish, Tru I know Go personally, that’s not him. He does not have a dishonest bone in his body joist dead serious all the time like Joe Friday in Dragnet. Must just be an out of context terminology thing

“Brian and Chris, best of luck toward keeping the shadows a catfish-free environment. Sad to see Graham’s forum rife with the same junk and imposters that plagued Hey Joe. You have my commitment to help.”

Certainly, no irritation, is taken, GrumpyGoSt8, & none given.
I will display for all to see, My Magnanimity, by
burying the “message”, hatchet, and will endeavor to let sleeping dogfish lie. Your attempts to rid the waters of “Catfish” appear to be based on good intentions, however at times, you come close to snagging other marine life, at such time you will become aware that a dogfish, is willing and able to aid said marine life..
I hope that clarifies the situation…..

Thanks. I feel confident that the message on catfish has reached the intended audience. Not intended is those that have openly disclosed their aliases. As Joe and Chris know, I felt and feel strongly about it.

I don’t intend to come across as a policeman. At that point, I would rather just leave this site behind. However, I think a lot of the Shadows work. I do check in on Graham’s site from time to time, but less frequently. I like some of his work, while being puzzled at times by his commentary.

“The first half of the BWW bowl has never seen a college football QB looking so bad my funky one
You tell me that your OCs superfine mind has come undone

Any major bowl committee with half a heart surely will tell you my friend
Any minor passing game that breaks apart falls together again
When the red shirt decision is at your door
In the morning 0n 09/21 it won’t be there no more
Any major bowl committee will tell you

Have you ever seen a Ghosts tears? Well, look at mine
The people on the LSJ beat have all seen better times
Any minor passing game that breaks apart falls together again

I can tell Dantonio all I know, the where to go, the what to do
You can try to run but you can’t hide Maxwell from a decent cover two
Any major bowl committee will tell you
Any major bowl committee will tell you
Fade to tomorrows press conference

About this blog

Chris Solari@chrissolariChris Solari has been with LSJ Media since 2006 and has covered Spartan athletics since 1994 while attending MSU. He also was an award-winning writer while covering South Dakota State athletics from 2002-06.

Brian Calloway@brian_callowayBrian is a native of Coloma, Mich., and a 2005 graduate of Eastern Michigan. He has worked at the Lansing State Journal since October 2010.